Athan's is such a treasure-a European-style bakery right in Brookline. They have dairy-free options for those who can't enjoy the butter-kissed layers of phyllo dough. The staff are friendly and you can get a table and stay awhile. There are several coffee shops in the area, but I truly don't understand why anyone would visit a Starbucks when you can enjoy the unique treat that is Athan's. The ambiance is lovely! read more

Best local Bakery ever! Love Athan, great pastry, awesome coffee and really cozy! Price is very reasonable too. My spot! read more

It's been awhile since I've visited Athan's at this location. Where the expansion is now, there used to be a cute little Korean supermarket. Funny how things change yet still stay the same...brings back memories. Pastries are just as wonderful and it manages to retain its European charm. Kudo's for more seating but where's the bubba au rum?! Link to the Washington St. locale review below: http://www.yelp.com/biz/athans-bakery-brighton#hrid:A7O0Bs-1GVqOtQCNDsbBqw read more

Athan's Bakery - Bakeries Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

The display I have to give 5 star it is amazing the staff are very nice 5 star they have panini and deserts and multiple sorts great selection - with excellent varieties of coffee and tea I was planning to visit the place just to eat desert. the taste is not that good it is "regular" I ordered different sorts of biscuits, rice pudding and chocolate cake it was very disappointing compared to what I was expecting from taste. This is why I am giving 3 star but to be fair they have an excellent presentation on top!! But sometimes the display does not do it all! read more

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It's been a while since I've been here, don't live in Brookline anymore. On this visit, I'm still salivating from the most awesome Almond croissant and tasty Greek coffee. I also got a batch of mousse cakes, Amendoa, Citron, Black Forest and Framboise. Pastries and cakes aside, I recommend savory bites of the Roast Beef or Turkey paninis. read more

Athan's Bakery - Black Forest, Amendoa, Citron and Framboise mousse cakes - Bakeries Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

Been to this place twice with some friends since I live pretty close. Overall, the place definitely has a antique/european feel to it as you walk in. Various choices of different desserts and there's also another area with the cafe/bar and tables and chairs for people to sit. Place is pretty quiet with dim lighting...definitely a nice place if you want to study and have some dessert in the meantime. The dessert itself is good...not the best. I've had better but it suffices. Sometimes I question its freshness but for the most part, its good. The staff is pretty laid back and friendly. Sometimes it can take a bit more effort to get someone to help you get a dessert from the display or help at the register. At times, I feel like nobody works there because it seems empty around the cashier area. So you stand there waiting and feeling kind of awkward. Overall, its a nice bakery. Very different from other places I've been. Not the best quality dessert. The atmosphere of the place is pretty chill and its a good place to have some study time or chit chat with friends over dessert and drinks. Will definitely come back to this place...especially when I need my girl time with friends. Its better than sitting at home finishing an entire pint of ice cream. read more

Athan's Bakery - three different desserts. yummy. - Bakeries Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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Very happy friend suggested this place! Amazing and wonderful world of delicious and exquisite bakery. Not just plain sugar you find in Donuts. Cozy, sweet and almost always open. This place should have pahlava flight menu item when you can try all sorts of it before committing for this "sweet crime"! read more

Athan's Bakery - Bakeries Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

My favorite bakery for pastries. There is a great variety of them and the choice differs from what downtown bakeries have to offer.My favorite pastry is the one made of figs Sometimes it gets really loud and crowded though out there. read more

I really wanted to give this place a good review, I've come a few times and I love their large cappuccinos and the big windows :) sadly this time around I did not have a great experience.. The owner was snappish when I tried to take a table that was near some random paintings laying on the floor, and the chai tea - which smelled so good-- tastes AWFUL. I feel like the barista just used the espresso machine and instead of running water through coffee grounds ran it through an old chai tea bag. And then mixed some hot water and a dollop of milk. I feel a bit silly complaining about this but I'm sorry this is not a chai tea latte.... :/ Hope to have a better visit next time. read more

Underwhelming. Disappointing inattentive service from some white dude. Cookies were stale.

I love the people here and the whole vibe, but the food and beverage are... mediocre. Oversweet and fatty for my taste. You're mostly paying for the great work space or cozy sitting area, depending on what you're looking for. I do love how it feels very cosmopolitan. read more

Worst experience ever! Purchased $60 worth of pastries on Sunday afternoon for a party where half of the pastries containing cream filling went bad and had to be thrown out. I called the store on Tuesday to see if they could remedy the situation, they asked that I bring the pastries back to get a refund. As you can imagine those went straight to the trash after we took one bite. I will never shop at Athens again and recommend that if you do you ask for a taste prior to purchase. The person on the phone said she was sorry she couldn't help me and could care less if I ever came back to the bakery. Horrible customer service! read more

Nice and cozy place. My granddaughters like doing there RSM homework here. Math homework + cake + hot chocolate = sweet math homework. read more

Athan's Bakery - Nice cozy place. My granddaughters like doing their RSM homework here. - Bakeries Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

Awesome place! Try out their chocolate croissant or almond croissant. They're to die for. Overall, amazing pastries!

This place was soooooo delicious! I had 2 different kinds of baklava, a cocoa truffle, flaky delicious spanakopita, & coffee. Service was fast and friendly! All of that under $10!!!!! read more

Athan's Bakery - Bakeries Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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Love their croissants (especially ham & cheese), baklava and hot chocolate. Great service. Happy to have such a great independent bakery in our neighborhood! read more

Usually this place is very darn great. Their baked goods (especially the eclair) and the baklava are to die for (so so so good). And usually their frappes are amazing. But, today on my walk I stepped in to buy two frappes for a friend and I. The person who took my order was very rude and the frappe was surprisingly rather disgusting. I ordered them sweet and they came out with no sweetness at all. Also it was insanely bitter and sour, and it seemed like it was made with old coffee or leftovers that were not stored correctly. I wouldn't go back again for a while, sadly. read more

What happened? We have been customers for many years. The last two times we purchased the individual bolero cakes they were mushy and tasteless. These are not cheap items! Our guests were very disappointed and this really soured our celebration. As a side note, when you purchase a full cake the price is determined by weight. Sometimes the cake is frozen. In addition the staff does not tell you that the individual cakes are frozen. This is important if you plan on serving the items right away. We may try this shop one more time. However, three strikes and they're out! read more

So Mr. Aris A. business owner you read your reviews. Good to know. My review is in conjunction with Anne L. We went there early Sat. evening. We were at the front counter trying to order coffee. The operative word here is "trying." the cashier was a young lady with black hair. She was polite enough but completely scatter brained. We had to tell her 5 or 6 times we wanted a regular cup of coffee and a latte. The process { which it shouldn't be} was interrupted by her constantly running off to take care of something and then asking us again what we wanted. This put me in an aggravated state but we got the order in and I was calm and composed on the outside and assumed things would be alright after that. I was wrong, the young man early twenties full black hair who was making our coffee was a complete smartass when I asked him to pour some coffee out to make room for milk he something to the effect that he could fit milk in when the coffee was at the rim of the cup. By itself I could have dealt with his comment but the total accumulation of my aggravation in "trying" to get a cup of coffee just blew my top. I F bombed him and said F your coffee and walked out. I was to pissed to even care about getting my $6 back, which you still owe me for my non coffee. If its a chore for the customer its wrong. The French restaurants across the street had no problem serving us a nice cup of coffee even though I was not dressed for such an establishment. read more

I've been to both the Brookline and Brighton locations, but the Brookline location is nicer, probably because Washington Square is nicer and more upscale than Brighton center. All of the treats are in the front of the store, and there is a nice section of chairs and tables in the back to enjoy your dessert/tea. My absolute favorite cake is the Jamaican cake, which is just so rich and decadent. It is actually my favorite cake ever. There is also a small selection of herbal teas that you can order in a small or "large" pot (still small) to enjoy. I've also tried other cakes like the black forest or the fig cake, and although they are fine, the Jamaican is my favorite one. Definitely worth a taste! read more

Athan's Bakery - JAMAICAN cake- the BEST cake - Bakeries Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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Great place overall! I've been coming here since high school and now I go to college nearby. Always have a great selection of food and drinks. Their cakes are to die for. They're also open pretty late so it's nice to be able to go with friends for a late night coffee! read more

We popped in to try an Almond croissant, sadly they had already sold out :( Ended up going with a Chocolate croissant, which was incredibly underwhelming. The croissant pastry was light and buttery, lots of layers, but disintegrated in our hands. There was barely any chocolate, only two small strands. You're paying $3 to eat something that is 90% air. What brings our rating of this place down the most was the service/business itself. We had an old Athan's gift card and wanted to use the remaining balance on our purchase. The cashier said that we had less than the cost of our purchase remaining on the card (um ok, not atypical) but that meant the balance was completely "unusable", despite us asking if we could pay the difference with cash or credit. So...we have money locked up in a gift card that the store is refusing to let us use. WTF. So buyer beware -- don't give or get any of this store's gift cards, because you'll be forced to have unused money left on it (unless you calculate your purchase to be EXACTLY the balance of the gift card). And oh yeah, there's no way for them to check the balance with you actually making a purchase and having them swipe the card for the transaction. Will not be coming back. read more

Athan's Bakery - "Chocolate" croissant -- let's play find the chocolate, gotta squint because there's HARDLY ANY THERE. - Bakeries Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

I live right around the corner from Athan's, and have been a regular here for years, but after an incident tonight I will no longer be back. I came in with a friend at a busy time looking for a table for 2, and saw just one available with 2 chairs next to it. As we proceed to sit down, an older man comes over to us and curtly orders us to move to the bar area, saying that this table was only for 3 or more. Not only was I upset with his tone, but I looked around and noticed that there was not a single other unoccupied chair in the room! Even if 3 people had showed up and wanted to sit there, there were no available chairs left. This man was not only rude but also illogical. I approached him and asked for his name, and to my surprise he identified himself as the owner. Is this how an owner should treat a loyal customer of many years? Read the other reviews (such as the one by Anya D. below) and you will see a disturbing trend here. This owner does not seem to have respect for his employees nor his customers, and it really brings down the environment of the place. After this recent incident, I will no longer be patronizing Athan's. read more

BEST of Boston. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... My mother discovered Athans a couple of years ago and brought home a lemon honey loaf and some baklava. Immediately, my family was obsessed which has led to many visits for their honey cakes, cookies, Greek pastries, rich desserts and gelato. Now, they have expanded and you can sit down and enjoy your treats with coffee or hot cocoa instead of just hovering outside the door and stuffing your face like a naughty child. read more

Very good and fresh pastry the only problem is: the owner is an ASSHOLE! If you see him inside, do not even bother to go in there. He is never polite and has no idea about customer service ! had to deal with him twice in my life. Once in my hotel where I worked at the front desk, the second time at Athan's on Beacon. His" I am the boss here attitude" just pissed me off. otherwise really great place to have a cup of coffee with nice pastry and just to hang out. read more

Was walking by this place one time and I was told that they had great gelatto. When I walked in I saw plenty of tasty looking cookies and desserts! A lot of the desserts looked authentic and delicious, but I wasn't as sure with the cookies. When I approached the gelatto area there was a woman trying out one of the flavors ahead of me. After several minutes of her thinking with nothing happening I asked to try one of the flavors and got a rude and curt response back from the worker that almost made me leave. I ended up getting a small chocolate gelatto. The prices at the bakery are that of an upscaleish cafe so a bit pricey compared to the average supermarket cookies or baked good, but not bad. The gelatto turned out to be alright, but it was definitely soured by the experience. read more

UPDATE: I have seriously been here about 3 times in the past 5 days. So, I'm up-ing my rating to 5 stars. The croissants here are perfection-- buttery and light and melt in your mouth. Their Red Eye (coffee with a shot of espresso) is the perfect perk-up drink once my eyes beginning glazing over after reading about hieroglyphic decipherment. And the coffee is great as are the almond butter cookies. Perfect place to sit and study and watch the general activity going on in Washington Square. As the majority of reviews will tell you, Athan's is perhaps one of the best pastry cafes in Boston. One of my roommates and I walked up to Washington Square (after a klassy-with-a-k dinner at Anna's) to treat ourselves to a decadent dessert. I ordered the Figo (fig mousse, some sort of soaked pound cake, all topped with a bit of INCREDIBLE chocolate) and she ordered the tiramisu (instead of lady fingers they used the same pound-cakey concoction and encrusted the tiramisu in a dusting of cocoa powder and chocolate). Both were incredibly rich but each and every bite was delicious. A coffee and dessert will set you back $6.25. Not bad considering you'd definitely pay that much at Starbucks-- at least here you'll get top quality and aren't subjected to the musical stylings of Kenny G. Obviously, this place is (successfully) positing itself as a European bakery/cafe. It has a certain charm to its light, wide open dining room with beautiful wood floors and slightly oversized tables. I imagine myself plunking down with a coffee and a chocolate croissant, reading Camus or Tolstoy, and transcribing passages from my "Theories of Decipherment" text. Hmmm... In fact, I may spend my Saturday doing just that! read more

This review is meant for the service. One cannot help but feeling frustrated when the owner aka manager (Aris) is following you around like you are some kind of criminal. Strike number one: a friend of mine and I wanted some pastries (to-go), so we decided to check out Athan's. My friend has already gotten a cup of coffee from Starbucks and as soon as we entered the establishment, there goes "Aris" judging us from top down and more so, eye-balling the coffee cup in his hand without even asking if we were interested in ordering to-go pastries. Instead, he started lecturing my friends for a good 4 minutes about how bad of an idea it was to be bringing in outside beverage. (Excuse me, I am sorry that your coffee sucks and we were only interested in your pastries "to-go".) Strike number two: Now that we got lectured and he said he would "allow" us just this once to sit in with an outside beverage, we decided to do so for the sake of it. As I was waiting for my pastry at the counter, we decided to have a seat at the table closest to the counter, and away from the crowded area. That was when we were being followed by Aris, yet again, and asked us to move to a more crowded area. His reason was that that table was a 4-seater and there was only two of us. I would understand if people are lining out the door to get the seats, but there were many open tables at the time. So we just felt attacked and it was very unprofessional of Aris to be treating paying customers that way. In the end, we asked him to bag our pastries politely saying that we will not be coming back to Athan's again. His response, with a smile, was: "Great! Do not come back again." If you do not know how to treat your customer right, just stay at home and collect your revenue. Let the employees do the job instead of sabotaging your own business. read more

Thanks to Yelp I just spent my Saturday morning hanging out at Athan's and it was the best few hours of this crumby week without a doubt. I'd been feeling a little homesick so the allure of a European-style cafe and many chocolate-containing goodies had me heading down to Washington Sq. Coffee was good and cheap at 1.45, tea was just as cheap and very very excellent (I had Athan's own personal blend). The pain au chocolate was very sinful (sugar and chocolate overdose) and a freshly baked cheese pasty was sumptuous. All round great food. I also wanted to try EVERYTHING else - especially the Tiramisu and all the yummy looking ice creams. And on top of great food - great decor, friendly atmosphere and wonderful staff who really seemed to be loving working there. Long opening hours and a perfect place to buy someone a gift from (they even sell cards). Very inviting with nice light-coloured wood fixtures, lots of natural light and a real feel like Europe. The staff conversed with people in fluent French, Spanish and Greek whilst I was there. The mix of customers made it feel like a revolving Euro-go-round. So this is now one of my new favourite places in Boston. I'll come here over Finale and Truly Jorg's any day - cheaper, better, much less pretentious. My only suggestion for an improvement... at my local french patisserie in London all the female staff wore the complete French maid outfits - stocking, high heels, the lot. That would be nice wouldn't it? read more

Mmmmm... Athan's. My mother went through this baklava phase and I swear she ate ten pounds of Athan's in a week. It is really, really good. They are definitely masters of the flake pastry here- I'd stick to the croissants, hand pies and cookies. The apricot pastry was divine, the fruit was a bit caramelized on top and not too sweet. The coffee is delicious, I was not disappointed in the least. The seating space seems like a nice place to relax and perhaps get some work/studying done. Lots of woodwork and natural light- just the way I like it. read more

I have visited this Brookline Athan's location about 3, 4 times this year. Not sure why I've gone back every time, nothing really stands out for me at this particular bakery, but its close to my home and nephew's school- sweet tooth gets to me some days!! :/ Staff, overall, are not so friendly. There is a woman who works in the cafe side of the bakery, she's not very clear when she is speaking to the customers, and when I asked her a question during one of my visits, she answered me as she turned around and gave me her back. When I asked her to repeat herself, she gave me this look as if I had ten heads! It was fairly quiet and slow that day, I cant imagine how she'd behave with a crowd. Their coffee isn't the greatest. The pastries are not my favorite, not fresh. They are decent, even that may be reaching. Their Gelato, is not good! Too artificial for my taste and not so smooth, when the worker was helping me, the Gelato seemed to come out in chunks as oppose to rolling onto the spoon with each stroke. The one thing I do enjoy is their packaged milk chocolate and packaged toasted sesame-seed cookies. Love them! I will not be visiting this place again. The last straw was today, Thursday early afternoon. The worker at the register, was obviously new. He was friendly overall, but seemed very lost and nervous when we presented two www.Groupon.com worth $10 each. My sister and I went in with one coupon each (mine was a gift from her). If anyone is familiar with these sites, they understand that even when you buy a voucher as a gift, both coupons, will have similar Voucher #'s except for the last digit- as long as they were purchased at the same time. Well, this turned out to be a major issue! He proceeded to call the owner, who then I spoke to. He said I couldn't use it, even as a separate transaction, only one per day was allowed. NOT MENTIONED IN THE VOUCHER. He said it's under the same account and doesn't matter if it was a gift. RIDICULOUS. I then said it was unfair because it was a gift and whether I use it today or tomorrow, I have already paid for it online and it wouldn't be an issue even if I had walked in 15minutes after my sister used hers! He then said I was trying to scam him- TERRIBLE BUSINESS MAN. I told him, it wasn't right and he asked me if it was right that he had to sell his pastries for less than what it's worth. I mean, reality is nobody pulled his arm to put his business on Groupon.com . Essentially, the reasons why you are putting your establishment on these sites, is to get more business, being cheap and obviously not knowing the *fine print* of what you're getting into, makes it even more frustrating for me- the customer. Granted I wasn't a regular, but doesn't mean you can treat me less than, or as somebody who is trying to scam you for $10 worth of pastries. Really? read more

Wow. Talk about a fall from grace. Stopped by here last night in the hopes of getting some work done and enjoying a fine pastry or two. When I walked in the door, messenger bag in tow, I got the, "Oh crap, he's going to want to sit down after I just cleared off the tables" look from the woman behind the register. Looking to head off any potential attitude, I made my order short and sweet: a Napoleon pastry and an iced latte. What happened next was not a typical example of the service I've received here in the past. The aforementioned Negative Nancy pounded the order into the touch screen register, swiped my credit card, and then promptly walked away, leaving me alone with neither pastry nor coffee to speak of. Eventually, after reading the receipt she left dangling from the printer, another employee retrived the Napoleon from a nearby case and told me the coffee would be up shortly. The Napoleon looked so unbelievably delicious that I couldn't wait to tear it apart and devour it (I never really learned to sit and savor). In truth, the eye-catching sweet cream perfectly positioned between two delicate pieces of puff pastry was more like eating a pile of tile grout squeezed between two used Brillo pads. The milk in the iced latte had that too-long-in-the-fridge-but-technically-not-expired flavor that always kept me from eating cereal at friends' houses when I was a kid, and Negative Nancy pretty much looked like she was having teeth pulled when she had the unfortunate luck of having to serve customers. Plus, since all work requires the internet nowadays, they really should get their own wireless network. The only open network within reach is the well-intentioned but underpowered Brookline Free network, which I suppose was tired from a long day and just kept timing out whenever I would connect. I'll be sticking with the Brighton location from now on. read more

Love the bakery, hate the service. I normally won't post any review, but having visited this establishment for the past 2 years now, I have to put in my $0.01 worth. Firstly, the bakery is great, top notch, no question. The big let down here is the service. The service staff seems to have a bad attitude which don't do this fine establishment justice Staffs seem to project the air of arrogance, especially when customers make a query about the store's products. This is even when the store isn't busy, read - no long lines; this is the major factor for me to visit and purchase goods from here more often. So, the next time you serve a customer, remember this - service with a smile and project some friendliness... yeah, won't hurt to smile a little, would it? It doesn't cost a penny to make the world a better place and spreading some cheers around. Anon read more

Another great places bites the dust! What in the world Athans?! You were absolutely amazing three years ago! Now, they are always running out of my favorite chocolates, they hire high school students that are un-engaging, the prices have gone up, the quality has gone down and I find myself saying "Eh..." when it comes to going back. There is a reason I haven't been here in months, because it lost a lot of the luster it once had in my heart. Sad.... read more

This sweet and charming little European bakery is a great place to pick up a little dessert after a dinner out because they're open late ('til 10 pm on weekdays and 11 p.m on Fri/Sat!). I love that they have such a great selection of baklava, as well as chocolates, little cakes and even gelato. The vanilla baklava gelato is so yummy! Also try the fig. You can even get a pint of it to go, and the prices are much more reasonable than what they charge at J.P. Lick's. Yes, the cakes and cookies are a tad pricey, but they are DEFINITELY worth the splurge. Also, they recently expanded their cafe to include a very nice seating area with coffee bar. You can now enjoy gourmet paninis! I had the prosciutto with pear, and I only wish that the panini bread were a little thinner. A perfect light lunch paired with the sweet lemon custard with phyllo. read more

Athan's serves decent food that is unfortunately tainted by sly marketing and superficially truthful service. My friends and I wanted to order cakes for 12 people. When I called and asked about cake sizes, I was told that Athan's has a cake size that serves 5-6 people. So, I reserved a specific black forest cake by pre-paying with my credit card over the phone. No charge amount was given to me before the conversation ended. Then, when I went to pick up the cake and purchase a second one of the same size, I was shocked to discover that the cakes cost $41 apiece. Why was I shocked? Because of two reasons. First, cakes of comparable complexity and size cost less than $30 from other stores. Second, and with more cause for anger, how does the store sell a cake for 5-6 people at $41, when individual servings of the exact same cake sell for $5 in the same store? Literally something does not add up. Yes, the cakes tasted okay. But what I thought to be intentionally misleading marketing and sales has greatly turned me off to Athan's for at least the next two years, read more

Yummy treats! Black Forest cake is my fav! The bakery is super cute with space to browse!

Ok, how badly did we need a place like this now that it's expanded? Great coffee, tasty desserts, paninis (a revived tradition for my husband and me is to eat paninis for a Sunday brunch. We used to do that in Philadelphia at a place called La Colombe, but haven't found an equivalent since we moved - until now), and really really good coffee, including a properly made cappucchino. Factor in a bright and airy atmosphere in the expanded seating area, an eclectic crowd of coffee and dessert lovers... Perfect! Also recommed it for a low key date place. Now, you can seduce your valentine with a chocolate mousse creation right in the comfort of Washington Square. Be forwarned, though, the sandwiches take FOREVER... And the gelatto is not so good. read more

This is a place I have to stay away from. Not that it's bad, quite on the contrary. All of their desserts are rich, lavish, or just plain evil. Some are expensive, but you can immediately tell why they cost so much. They put a lot of effort into finishing touches and presentation. Once you pick your dessert, they have a little cafe on the other half of the place where you can relax and endulge. So far, I can only just their vanilla gelati. It was superb, really. The price was fair to. read more

Starbucks closed at 10pm, so headed here to continue working. Bought 3 cookies and sat down with my 2-sip-left starbucks coffee on the table. An older gentleman (manager or owner?) comes up to me, looks at me for a few seconds in the eyes, and says, "Don't bring drinks from outside next time. Our policy." and walks away. I perceive this a rude gesture, as a paying customer. Would appreciate an "excuse me," without an intrusive stare. Service 101. I give 2 stars because the girl in the front seems very kind and eager to help patrons. read more